From the estate of the late Roy Jackson
1953 Austin Champ 4x4

• Iconic British Army military vehicle
• Present ownership since 2020
• Restored during the present ownership
• Little used since completion

Inspired by the wartime Jeep and built, but not designed, by Austin, the Champ lightweight four-wheel-drive military vehicle entered production in 1951. Austin's major customer was the British Army, for whom the 'quarter-ton 4x4 combat truck' was manufactured in two main types: cargo and wireless-equipped, though there were various conversion kits for other duties. Power was supplied by a 2.8-litre Rolls-Royce B40 four-cylinder petrol engine, while all-round independent suspension made for excellent handling both on and off road. Unusually, the transmission boasted a central transfer gearbox with separate lever that enabled all five forward speeds to be selected in reverse. Around 11,700 Champs were manufactured between 1951 and 1956 for the British Army, with another 1,200-or-so going to other customers, including the Australian Army.

This Austin Champ was purchased by the late Roy Jackson in December 2020. The Champ had been off the road for around 12-15 years with a previous keeper in Kingsbridge, Devon and at time of purchase was described as largely original and in running and driving order. According to various pieces of Champ Club correspondence on file, this 1953 example was not sold by the British Army until 3rd March 1964, while the accompanying UK V5 records the year of registration as 1966 (hence the 'D' suffix registration number).

During restoration works a ram's head emblem was discovered. This represented the 1st Army Group Royal Artillery, whose HQ was in Glasgow. In 1956 the AGRA field regiment was assigned to Operation Musketeer, the abortive Anglo-French-Israeli initiative aimed at seizing the Suez Canal Zone from Egyptian control. The regiment, and presumably this Champ, was posted to Cyprus. When Musketeer was abandoned, the regiment was allocated to internal security duties. The Champ on offer was used by the 50th Medium Regiment and carried the number '144' on RA colours.

After being purchased by Roy Jackson, the Champ was sympathetically refreshed under the guidance of Ben and Seb Morgan. Photographs of the Champ pre-works are in the history file together with bills for parts totalling over £2,500. The vehicle also comes with reprinted handbooks. Nicely restored, the Champ has seen little road use since the restoration's completion; an inspection is recommended before road use.

Roy Jackson was born in the middle of WW2 in the North West of England near Lancaster. He spent his boyhood fishing the local rivers and lakes and shooting. His father was also a car enthusiast and Roy's formative years were spent watching him race his Triumph and Lagonda in local races such as the Barbon Hill-Climb. He was always involved in his dad's motoring escapades, learning to drive in cars considered classics today on the driveway of the family home. Roy's first car restoral was a 1932 Alvis Firefly which he worked on in his father's building yard when he was a teenager. This project ignited in him an ambition to become a fully-fledged mechanic. However, his father had other ideas and wanted him to enter the family construction business, so Roy went and studied Civil Engineering. This was a profession he grew to love and he became managing director of the company at a young age, successfully running it until his retirement in 2013.

Since 2013 Roy had no wish to live the life of a regular retiree. Rather he saw this as the opportunity to resurrect the dreams of his youth and to start to restore classic cars as he had wanted to in his younger days. His home, a converted Cumbrian farm, was the perfect venue for his new career and these restorations became his life. Working together with his son-in-law Seb Morgan, what started as a dream quickly evolved. The workshop they built together became renowned locally and further afield. Roy and Seb rebuilt 26 classic cars and military vehicles over the 11 years they were working together, including the vehicles listed by Bonhams in this auction which are offered from his estate.